Dior J’Adore, D’Eau, L’Or — Theme and Variations

This tale begins in our local library’s main branch – a building I love that’s right downtown off the Plaza. It smells like books and newsprint and is a spacious, quiet place to read, to warm up (or use the restroom) while downtown, or just stare off into space. I was there browsing the current issues of various fashion magazines when I smelled something fantastic emanating from the pages of Vogue, which turned out to be a scent strip – remember those? (Remember magazines? Or, for that matter, libraries? I like to visit libraries when I travel to other cities. I hope they all stick around awhile longer.)

The scent strip in question proved to be Dior’s J’adore l’Or. As I think I’ve mentioned, probably more than once, if I had to name a single fragrance that’s been the most frequent response to my enthusiastic questioning of strangers on their scent, it’d be J’adore.  Part of this, of course, is down to its extraordinary sillage; everyone around me could be wearing a skin scent like Glossier You and I’d never know.

Anyway, I admire J’adore, and clearly I enjoy it on other folks, but it’s never made me whip out the Visa card for my own bottle. This J’adore l’Or, though, what’s up with that? Clearly the only thing to do at that point was buy samples of the (current) original, plus J’adore D’eau and l’Or, and try them all out.

J’adore is Calice Becker’s 1999 powerhouse and remains popular; its main focus is a triad of ylang, rose and jasmine with some underpinnings that keep it from being “just” a white flower scent. Trying it, yet again, on my skin, there’s a soapiness I find off-putting, and I suspect that aspect is somehow mitigated when I smell it at a bit of a distance on someone else. Unsurprisingly in the subsequent 25 years there’ve been a ton of flankers/versions/re-releases of J’adore in the form of absolus, voiles, eaux, extraits, etc.

It’s interesting that J’adore came toward the end of what I remember as the Beige Decade after the Excessive Eighties; all those lighter, fresh 90’s fragrances like CK One and L’eau d’Issey and Tommy Girl and all their clones. J’Adore smells nothing like that. It’s a pendulum swing toward a much bigger fragrance footprint, and it smells like an instant classic to me without being retro. It’s timeless and massive. I acknowledge its artistry and I like it very much, even if I still don’t want to wear it.

Moving on to my sample of Dior D’eau – jasmine, green notes, magnolia, honeysuckle, neroli, rose, released in 2022. This is “a fresh and spontaneous interpretation” that “breaks with the top-heart-base rule of perfumery.” It’s also water-based (no alcohol.)

So, this one smells like a very nice hair product, which I guess it is, sort of – the Sephora site says to “spray on skin and hair”. I don’t smell a direct line from the original J’adore, which was/is a neon sign for Big Fragrance. D’eau is floral, green, fresh. As stated above it doesn’t really develop, it’s just all there immediately as a very nice smell. And while it’s certainly lighter than J’adore, I wouldn’t call it light (or spray with abandon, or wear it to the gym) – it’s light in the way a Humvee is lighter than a Sherman tank. It’s nice! If a bottle fell into my hands I’d wear it occasionally.

Finally, l’Or: If I’m understanding correctly, Francis Kurkdjian (who took over as perfume creative director in fall 2021) was directed to update 2017’s l’Or, and there was a lot of media coverage when the new iteration came out in fall 2023. I don’t have anything to compare it to except J’adore, so mostly what I notice is it’s softer, rounder, less … strident? If J’adore is cupid’s arrow through your heart (or your sinus cavities, depending) then l’Or is more of a gentle caress that leans in for a hug. If I were going to wear an iteration of J’adore, it’d be this one, and only in winter. It’s absent the hint of nylon screechiness (on me) that has kept me from wearing J’adore except on an occasional whim while passing through a store that has a tester on the counter.

L’absolu, which I have not sniffed, seems to be Luca Turin’s favorite; he indicates it’s what regular J’adore used to smell like before they switched to cheaper ingredients. Have you tried that or the extrait? (I cannot imagine; the regular seems “extra” enough, although maybe like l’Or it’s smoother rather than bigger.) Do you own, love, and/or wear any of these many iterations?

Notes: I know Charlize Theron (top left) had the job for ~20 years, but for whatever reason, the iconic Carmen Kass image (top right) is always the ad I picture. Rihanna is the new model as of last fall (above.) I purchased my sample set on eBay. Also, I did my best with the French, especially the upper/lower case conundrum, but it’s probably wrong.